compiling = ?

it often says i have to compile a script when i've downloaded a new program ... what is that and how do you do it=? is it a standard operation or is it different from program to program ?

 

First, what programs are you downloading? Several people on this forum have tried to use the Windows way (download a file from somewhere and install it) rather than the Linux way (use the package manager - "add/remove programs" is available on the menu once you've enabled the full desktop). There is loads of stuff in the package manager - are you sure what you want isn't in there?

If you definitely want something which needs compiling (and all Open Source programs, by definition, can be obtained as source code which you then compile - that is, you get the computer to do the process of translating them from programming language into machine code) then you need to install a number of packages which will enable you to do this. Most of them would come as standard on a usual Linux installation, but the Linpus one is rather cut down. There's an option on the Add/Remove software 'Browse' page to install Development Tools - I didn't use that route myself but I think that would probably provide you with what you need.

Then, in theory, it's just a matter of
- Downloading the source code you want to compile usually in the form of a tar.gz archvie)
- Uncompressing the archive you downloaded
- Finding the file called INSTALL in the top level of the resulting directory
- Following what it says. Usually this will tell you to become root, and then do something very like
"./configure && make && make install" in a terminal.

But.... but.... well, many of these programs rely on you having various libraries of code already on your machine: the chances are they are re-using material which someone else has written. That's perfectly legitimate in Open Source (that's why it's Open!), but it leaves you needing to make sure you've got all that code in place. Usually people will tell you somewhere exactly what extra libraries are needed, and usually you will be able to install them through the add/remove software interface - note that if you're told you need (for example) the 'glib' library, for compilation purposes you need to install something called 'glib-dev' or 'glib-devel' or similar: 'glib' itself would be the already-compiled library. This is where things can get difficult, though; tracking down all these code dependencies can sometimes be awkward.

I've compiled loads of stuff in Linux, usually to get some feature which the writers only put into the code last week, and to give feedback to developers on their latest ideas when they are creating software which I will find useful. I followed macles excellent instructions on compiling truecrypt just last night on the One, and it's working well. It's perhaps not for the faint hearted, though!

Compiling software yourself is a way of getting the latest versions, getting unusual software and finding out quite a lot about how Linux works. If you're not into doing fairly technical things and finding your way round stuff, you may be better to stick with the mountains of software available, ready-compiled and ready to run, in the add/remove programs interface.

 

whoa that was a long post... everyone in here is so friendly <3 thanks alot!! im gonna sit all night and try to figure linux out in depth i think!

 

Compiling from source is a good thing to learn but if you're fairly new to Linux it's a lot easier to use pre-built binaries (RPMs) as daldred said. Sometimes compiling source code works fine, sometimes it'll have you tearing your hair out trying to work out why it won't build, if you can avoid it, it's best to do it the easy way, if someone else has done the hard work... it's best to make use of it.

The good thing about Linpus is that it's based on Fedora 8 which has a huge range of pre-built RPMs available.
If the standard Repositories don't have the software you're after you can add 3rd party software repositories such as Livna

Code:

rpm -ivh [url]http://rpm.livna.org/livna-release-8.rpm[/url]

If you still can't find what you're looking for, you can also check sites such as http://rpm.pbone.net/ and use the Advanced search feature to search for Fedora 8 rpms.

If you do have to build from source and there's no way of getting away from it, always read any readme or install files included as they often tell you what steps you need to take and what dependencies need to be installed first to get it to build as easily as possible